1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tubular terminal for a cable, in particular a medium or high voltage cable. Moreover, the present invention relates to a kit for connecting cables, in particular medium or high voltage cables. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an arrangement at least three tubular terminals for cables.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is generally known to use radially shrinkable sleeves for enclosing an electrical cable connected to another electrical cable or a stop end. An example of a known radially shrinkable sleeve for covering cable terminations either of cable connectors or stop ends is described in EP-B-0 435 569. The shrinkable sleeve comprises a dielectric material as an intermediate insulating layer, an electric field control inner layer combined with a partially coated inner conductive layer, and an electrically conducting outer layer. Such a multi-layer sleeve is preferably made by extrusion and preferably comprises silicone or EPDM.
When making cable splices or cable end terminations by means of a known radially shrinkable sleeve it is necessary that on one side of the connector a free space is provided (parking position), which corresponds to the complete length of the shrinkable sleeve. After the cable connection is established, the shrinkable sleeve is centered over the cable connection and is then shrunk down either by the application of heat or by the removal of an external or internal support maintaining the shrinkable sleeve in a radially extended state. EP-B-0 541 000 discloses a radially shrinkable sleeve which in its radially expanded state is held by two removable support cores located adjacent each other. Another radially shrinkable sleeve having individual support cores for different sections of the sleeve is disclosed in EP-B-0 966 780. In this known assembly, different sections of the sleeve are concentrically arranged by folding back the sleeve, wherein the individual sections are maintained in their respective radially expanded states by means of removable support cores or similar support elements.
One problem with the known radially shrinkable sleeves is that the user has to arrange the sleeve over the cable connection in a centered manner. EP-B-1 158 639 discloses an electric connector element to which two cables to be connected can be attached by means of screws. The conductors of the cables to be connected are inserted into the connector element and are fixed therein by fastening screws. The connector element is encompassed by an elastic sleeve which extends beyond the two terminal ends of the connector element for surrounding the cables when attached to the connector element. The elastic sleeve in its portion encompassing the connector element is provided with two openings for allowing access to the fastening screws. When the screws are fastened, the two openings are closed by sealing caps. In the known design there is the risk that humidity enters along the caps into the tubular sleeve.
Finally, from DE-A-29 39 600 and DE-A-38 13 001 it is known to use plug-and-socket connectors for connecting medium or high voltage cables, wherein, after having established the electrical connection, a shrinkable sleeve is placed onto the cable connection.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved cable terminal either in a cable-to-cable connection or stop end application, in particular for medium or high voltage cables, wherein the terminal for the cable is provided with an improved sealing function and allows for facilitated application.